Post by Exposgm on Dec 1, 2008 2:57:10 GMT -5
Okay, time to discuss the upcoming expansion. Actually, we should have been discussing it for a while, but better late than never.
I have been looking at this issue a whole lot lately. The expansion is very much upon us: the league will welcome the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners in the 1977 season. They expansion draft takes place soon after the 1976 season.
We basically have no choice to go with the expansion, as it's build-in the game to happen at a precise time and there is no option that allows us to simply do without it.
Finding new owners isn't like it used to be at the end of the 60's when we were playing with an out-of-date 2k4 version of BBM. So it's not an issue as it was for the 1969 expansion at some point.
But although it's build in the game, the expansion process isn't perfect. We can not run the expansion draft by selecting the players ourselves. Expansion teams cannot be human-controlled until AFTER the draft is complete. This means that I will have to run the draft a first time, trade back everyone to their former teams, and then fill the two expansion teams with the players the expansion owners will have selected.
Yes, that's quite a bummer. But I can deal with it.
The most important issue for now is coming up with a protection plan.
As soon as the 1976 World Series is played and the file turned over, we get to protect 15 players on each team. The computer then completes the draft according to these protection lists. But we will ignore that computer-controlled draft, so we can work differently.
I have considered that 15 player protection plan. It really doesn't look as bad as it sounds, but it has holes. In each of the drafts I ran, the game selected an average of 89% of rookies/prospects. Should we protect 15 players (or more?), we obviously would have to make sure to make it in order to balance things out a lot more than this.
Another thing that doesn't work well in the computer-run draft is that the two teams select for 35 rounds. That leaves both teams with only 10 players in their minor leagues. Current average roster size in TMBL is 56. Expansion teams need to draft for more than 35 rounds, so much is obvious.
If you run a file ahead past the expansion draft, you will notice that they do have more than 35 players. But many of them are CGRs. Those will be destroyed as soon as the teams will be completed. Also, since the teams are computer-controlled, I have noticed they sign a few free agents, those are also going to be removed (released into FA pool).
What we need to decide soon is what kind of protection plan to go with, as well as how to structure stuff like the number of players each team will lose to the expansion, the maximum number of prospects to be taken, the number of rounds, etc...
This will be TMBL's third expansion draft. This time, I do not want to hear anyone complain that they do not want to lose some good players. I have gone and read all the discussions prior to the last expansion. Everyone will lose players, the same amount of players. The last expansion didn't destroy any team, good to great players were lost to the expansion, and it will be the same again this time.
We still have to talk about the protection plan.
A few owners think 15 is too less. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.
We protected 25 players in the first expansion draft. That was way too much and it was a disaster.
We had 3 protection plans to choose from last time. It worked much better. But rosters are much bigger now. If we are to work on a 3 protection plan offer, it has to be adjusted.
This was the protection plans owners had to choose from for the 1969 expansion draft:
The three plans are:
6 hitters, 5 pitchers, 10 rookies auto protected. Up to 21 total
7 hitters, 6 pitchers, 5 rookies auto protected. Up to 18 total
8 hitters, 7 pitchers, No rookies auto protected. Up to 15 total
Nothing is decided yet. We're discussing.
Back then, every team was to lose 5 players to the expansion draft. No more, no less. But there were 4 expansion teams. This made 100 players for 4 teams, 25 per team.
We cannot say that since this expansion has half the teams from last time, we will lose half the players from last time. 25 players picked on the expansion draft is not the way to go. Even the 35 players taken in the computer-controlled draft isn't enough. Free agency doesn't have enough quality players to cover for the holes these teams will have with only 35 players.
One thing I had been thinking about is perhaps go with the following (this is not a protection plan):
Expansion owners would select 96 players from the 24 teams. That is 4 teams lost by each team, no more, no less. It's also 48 players on the expansion teams once the draft is done. It's not as much as the average roster size of 56. Only one team currently has a roster below 50, and a few are above 60. So 48 players for an expansion team doesn't sound too much at all.
Of course, if we (would) stand to lose 4 players on each team, we would have to make it so we cannot lose more than, say, two pre-peak players with no major league experience (prospects). This way, we wouldn't have the 89% prospect rate picked by the computer in the draft when it's run by the game itself.
48 players means 48 rounds. It sounds an awful lot. But...
There are only two teams. This means two owners.
Last time, we successfully ran a live draft on Netmeeting in approximately 2 hours. The four expansion owners were there, there was no screw-ups and the four of us selected 100 players over that amazing span of time. Running a live draft with two expansion owners should prove to be even easier. The two of them would select 96 players, so we would actually look at a live draft that wouldn't be that different from last time.
Back to the protection plans.
I have noticed that the computer-controlled draft selects (few, but still) rookies from the 1976 Draft. From what I've read, MLB doesn't allow the expansion teams to select players that were picked in the same season, so it would be logic for us to follow that. 1976 draftees would automatically be protected. In other words, none of next year's draftees would occupy a spot on your protection list.
4 players lost per team, if it included 2 rookies (maximum) would give expansion teams rosters that would include 50% of rookies. That is not very different from what our current rosters look like. I agree that those rookies would be, on average, better than some of the crappy fifth and sixth rounders we carry on our rosters. But expansion teams will start with Farm System rated at C, thus slowing the progression of many of those rookies.
As I said, nothing is decided yet. Not the protection plans, not the numbers of players lost, nothing. Just the fact that we will be going with the expansion is decided; the game leaves us no choice.
Please discuss and make suggestions if you have any. The expansion is coming pretty fast (1976 offseason). One current owner has already shown interest in taking over an expansion franchise, while an owner who left us recently told me to check with him when we get near the expansion to see if he can take on one of the two teams.
Talk. Chat. Discuss. Argue. Parlez. ;D
I have been looking at this issue a whole lot lately. The expansion is very much upon us: the league will welcome the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners in the 1977 season. They expansion draft takes place soon after the 1976 season.
We basically have no choice to go with the expansion, as it's build-in the game to happen at a precise time and there is no option that allows us to simply do without it.
Finding new owners isn't like it used to be at the end of the 60's when we were playing with an out-of-date 2k4 version of BBM. So it's not an issue as it was for the 1969 expansion at some point.
But although it's build in the game, the expansion process isn't perfect. We can not run the expansion draft by selecting the players ourselves. Expansion teams cannot be human-controlled until AFTER the draft is complete. This means that I will have to run the draft a first time, trade back everyone to their former teams, and then fill the two expansion teams with the players the expansion owners will have selected.
Yes, that's quite a bummer. But I can deal with it.
The most important issue for now is coming up with a protection plan.
As soon as the 1976 World Series is played and the file turned over, we get to protect 15 players on each team. The computer then completes the draft according to these protection lists. But we will ignore that computer-controlled draft, so we can work differently.
I have considered that 15 player protection plan. It really doesn't look as bad as it sounds, but it has holes. In each of the drafts I ran, the game selected an average of 89% of rookies/prospects. Should we protect 15 players (or more?), we obviously would have to make sure to make it in order to balance things out a lot more than this.
Another thing that doesn't work well in the computer-run draft is that the two teams select for 35 rounds. That leaves both teams with only 10 players in their minor leagues. Current average roster size in TMBL is 56. Expansion teams need to draft for more than 35 rounds, so much is obvious.
If you run a file ahead past the expansion draft, you will notice that they do have more than 35 players. But many of them are CGRs. Those will be destroyed as soon as the teams will be completed. Also, since the teams are computer-controlled, I have noticed they sign a few free agents, those are also going to be removed (released into FA pool).
What we need to decide soon is what kind of protection plan to go with, as well as how to structure stuff like the number of players each team will lose to the expansion, the maximum number of prospects to be taken, the number of rounds, etc...
This will be TMBL's third expansion draft. This time, I do not want to hear anyone complain that they do not want to lose some good players. I have gone and read all the discussions prior to the last expansion. Everyone will lose players, the same amount of players. The last expansion didn't destroy any team, good to great players were lost to the expansion, and it will be the same again this time.
We still have to talk about the protection plan.
A few owners think 15 is too less. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.
We protected 25 players in the first expansion draft. That was way too much and it was a disaster.
We had 3 protection plans to choose from last time. It worked much better. But rosters are much bigger now. If we are to work on a 3 protection plan offer, it has to be adjusted.
This was the protection plans owners had to choose from for the 1969 expansion draft:
The three plans are:
6 hitters, 5 pitchers, 10 rookies auto protected. Up to 21 total
7 hitters, 6 pitchers, 5 rookies auto protected. Up to 18 total
8 hitters, 7 pitchers, No rookies auto protected. Up to 15 total
Nothing is decided yet. We're discussing.
Back then, every team was to lose 5 players to the expansion draft. No more, no less. But there were 4 expansion teams. This made 100 players for 4 teams, 25 per team.
We cannot say that since this expansion has half the teams from last time, we will lose half the players from last time. 25 players picked on the expansion draft is not the way to go. Even the 35 players taken in the computer-controlled draft isn't enough. Free agency doesn't have enough quality players to cover for the holes these teams will have with only 35 players.
One thing I had been thinking about is perhaps go with the following (this is not a protection plan):
Expansion owners would select 96 players from the 24 teams. That is 4 teams lost by each team, no more, no less. It's also 48 players on the expansion teams once the draft is done. It's not as much as the average roster size of 56. Only one team currently has a roster below 50, and a few are above 60. So 48 players for an expansion team doesn't sound too much at all.
Of course, if we (would) stand to lose 4 players on each team, we would have to make it so we cannot lose more than, say, two pre-peak players with no major league experience (prospects). This way, we wouldn't have the 89% prospect rate picked by the computer in the draft when it's run by the game itself.
48 players means 48 rounds. It sounds an awful lot. But...
There are only two teams. This means two owners.
Last time, we successfully ran a live draft on Netmeeting in approximately 2 hours. The four expansion owners were there, there was no screw-ups and the four of us selected 100 players over that amazing span of time. Running a live draft with two expansion owners should prove to be even easier. The two of them would select 96 players, so we would actually look at a live draft that wouldn't be that different from last time.
Back to the protection plans.
I have noticed that the computer-controlled draft selects (few, but still) rookies from the 1976 Draft. From what I've read, MLB doesn't allow the expansion teams to select players that were picked in the same season, so it would be logic for us to follow that. 1976 draftees would automatically be protected. In other words, none of next year's draftees would occupy a spot on your protection list.
4 players lost per team, if it included 2 rookies (maximum) would give expansion teams rosters that would include 50% of rookies. That is not very different from what our current rosters look like. I agree that those rookies would be, on average, better than some of the crappy fifth and sixth rounders we carry on our rosters. But expansion teams will start with Farm System rated at C, thus slowing the progression of many of those rookies.
As I said, nothing is decided yet. Not the protection plans, not the numbers of players lost, nothing. Just the fact that we will be going with the expansion is decided; the game leaves us no choice.
Please discuss and make suggestions if you have any. The expansion is coming pretty fast (1976 offseason). One current owner has already shown interest in taking over an expansion franchise, while an owner who left us recently told me to check with him when we get near the expansion to see if he can take on one of the two teams.
Talk. Chat. Discuss. Argue. Parlez. ;D